coconut carrot soup: warm soup with a warm fire.

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I love soup. I have said so before, and will say again. A creamy soup, where it has been blended so finely that it just rolls through your mouth, allowing the tastes and spices to touch every part of your tongue and slide down your throat. Bread just soaks it up, saturating itself with steaming goodness. A 9000 year old culinary tradition, soup embodies home, no matter where you are.

Brendan had been home to Kelowna the previous weekend and harvested the rogue carrots of his garden. Tiny little slivers of crunchy sweetness, it almost seemed a shame to make them into a soup. 'Almost' being the operative word, for it was that very sugary flavor that offset the spiciness of the soup and the creaminess of the coconut milk.

It was also the time to remove the candles from our working fireplace and replace them with real fire. It was a momentous occasion, for I love a good fire burning, curling up with a book, and sipping tea. However, that is a very solitary activity and to be more social, we ate soup together and then tried for a better part of an hour to find a working link for Curb Your Enthusiasm. Soup and a roaring fire, what could be better?

Coconut Carrot Soup

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbs. olive oil
3 tbs. hot curry powder
1 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. cumin
5 cups chicken broth
2 pounds fresh carrots, chopped
1 can coconut milk
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

1. Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil in a soup pot for about 5 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another two minutes.

2. Deglaze the pot with the broth. Add the carrots. Let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the stock has reduced by at least a quarter. Add the coconut milk and simmer for another 5.

3. Blend the soup in batches until it is smooth and creamy - blending for about two minutes for each batch will make it as smooth as silk.

4. Pray. Eat. Enjoy. Light a fire in your fireplace and let your soul become content as you stare at the dancing flames.